Man rescued after four months lost in Andes

A Uruguayan man has been found alive after four months lost in the Andes.

Raul Fernando Gomez Cincunegui, 58, was spotted by Argentine officials on Sunday who were flying into the remote mountain area by helicopter to check snow levels. Mr Gomez, who had been sheltering in a mountain refuge 9,300ft above sea level, in the shadow of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside the Himalayas, ran out of the hut and managed to attract their attention.

Thanks to God and the Virgin my son is alive.

"He was very happy," said Walter Gallardo, the pilot of the helicopter. "He was hungry and had been very anxious, but he was fine."

Raul Gomez Cincunegui: survived for four months lost in the Andes. Photo: AFP

Mr Gomez had survived by eating rats he caught in a homemade trap, as well as raisins and sugar left in the hut.

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He lost three stone in weight and was severely dehydrated, but was otherwise unharmed by his ordeal. The rescuers took him to the Rawson Hospital in the Argentine town of San Juan, 100 miles north of Mendoza.

"We still can't believe it," said Jose Luis Gioja, governor of the province of San Juan. "He arrived, and we spoke to him, and he spoke by telephone to his wife, his mother and daughter. He was really emotional - so emotional he fainted."

Mr Gomez, a health worker and part-time plumber, set off from Chile in May on his motorbike. He was from the far northern Uruguayan town of Bella Union - where Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay meet - and was keen on long-distance journeys.

But the motorbike broke down, and on May 11 - with winter drawing in - he sent a text message to his family saying that he planned to complete his journey on foot.

On May 19 his family raised the alarm through Interpol in Uruguay, but the Argentine authorities did not receive the news until June 29, when his daughter Paula called the police in San Juan, asking for help. She was travelling to San Juan last night, along with her family.

"I am so happy," said his mother, Teresa Cincunegui. "Thanks to God and the Virgin my son appeared and is alive."

She added: "I always knew he was still alive."

Photos of an emaciated, bearded Mr Gomez resting on a bed were splashed on the Argentine and Uruguayan newspapers. "He is in total shock," Mr Gioja told Uruguayan newspaper El Pais. "They cleaned him up and he is still in hospital. I asked him, 'Are you a believer?' And he replied, 'I wasn't, but I am now'."